The present invention relates to a cyclone type separator.
Such an item of apparatus is employed to advantage specifically, though not exclusively, in the food industry, the typical function being to separate a concentrate such as tomato juice, for example, from the water vapor it contains.
Familiar multistage evaporation systems appear as a plurality of cyclone separators connected one with another in cascade.
Each stage is composed of at least one tube nest heat exchangers and a separator exhibiting a main body that comprises a cylindrical central section, a top section of toroidospherical geometry with a vapor outlet pipe, and a conical bottom section of which the vertex affords an opening with an outlet pipe for the liquid phase.
The product to be treated is introduced into the separator via the bottom part of the cylindrical section, entering tangentially in most instances. It is usual to create and maintain a vacuum (or in any event a pressure below atmospheric) internally of the separator, so as to obtain a high specific volume and high velocity of the ascending vapors. An effective separation is obtained by selecting a diameter for the separator large enough to occasion a reduction in velocity such that the droplets of liquid fall by gravity, thereby ensuring that the mass of the droplets is greater than the entraining force of the vapor.
The separation is assisted further by centrifugal force, where the product enters tangentially, as the droplets will be flattened against the wall. The vapor carried away through the top outlet pipe is directed into a further stage and utilized as a source of heat for the relative exchanger.
The liquid phase of the product emerging from the bottom pipe is either discharged or recirculated in the heat exchanger.
Cyclone separators found in multistage evaporation systems of conventional type are rendered somewhat complex in constructional terms by the layout of the connecting pipelines.
The complexity is attributable to various factors, one of which being the presence of the duct through which vapors are conveyed from one separator to the next. In effect, the duct in question exhibits at least three changes of direction.
Given the large diameter of the pipelines and the fact that the material used in manufacture is often stainless steel, considerable costs are incurred.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawback mentioned above by providing a cyclone separator that features simplicity and economy in construction, and relatively compact dimensions not least in terms of height.
Among the advantages of the invention is that it allows of obtaining a more efficient separation of vapor from a foodstuff, in each single stage, than can be achieved with conventional separators.